Are we missing the point of the Bible?
![James Cary](/media/images/James_Cary.2e16d0ba.fill-32x32.format-webp.webp)
James Cary
We all thought there were four but actually there are five. Not Gospels, but tastes. There’s sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness. And the fifth is umami, the Pete Best* of the culinary world that was there from the beginning. Umami is a meaty, broth-like, or savoury taste.
What’s your favourite taste? For me, there’s nothing better than a juicy ripe sliced tomato with olive oil, salt, red onion and basil, accompanying a medium-rare T-bone steak with some twice-cooked chips. And mustard mayo. There’s a restaurant in Stellenbosch in South Africa which did that to perfection. One day, I hope to return there for that transcendent experience.
Watching the web
![James Cary](/media/images/James_Cary.2e16d0ba.fill-32x32.format-webp.webp)
James Cary
Writing used to be easy. More complex and expensive, yes, but reassuringly slow. The writer would write, it would be sent to an editor who would edit. Then a sub-editor would get involved. It would be typeset, printed and then eventually distributed. Even writing letters was slow, since it was normally done by hand, then had to be folded, addressed, stamped and posted.
The internet has changed everything. Writing is instant. It shouldn’t be, but it is. And I’m not sure we’re prepared for the changes that have already taken place. For example, it is very easy to forget the situation of your reader. Previously, he may have been a commuter on the train or she may have been a friend with a mug of tea at the kitchen table. Now your reader is a someone peering at a screen. So one has to be brief. Despite the fact that the internet has a limitless amount of memory, the need to be concise has never been greater. Twitter makes a virtue of it. 140 characters can say an awful lot. This is no bad thing — one Bible verse can take a lifetime to unpack.
Western civilisation is floundering and teetering
Are we comfortable in our own skin? How do we feel about being human? If we call ourselves evangelicals, we are nervous about thinking about ourselves too much. After all, that way lies narcissism.
Narcissus was a beautiful youth who rejected Echo, the nymph, and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. There he lay, transfixed by his own image, until he was changed into a flower that bears his name. Is this really any different from staring into phones, taking selfies and posting them, ever so slightly enhanced and filtered, on Instagram?